Bruce Cordell

Bruce Robert Cordell is an American author of roleplaying games and fantasy novels. He has worked on Dungeons & Dragons games for Wizards of the Coast. He won the Origins Award for Return to the Tomb of Horrors and has also won several ENnies. He lives in Seattle.

Early life and education Bruce Cordell played Dungeons & Dragons as a youth, and even recalled playing the original Tomb of Horrors adventure with future fellow game designer Monte Cook when they were in high school together. Cordell was a wrestler and a debater, and also earned a degree in biology from the University of Colorado.

Roleplaying work Cordell worked on freelance game design while working in the scientific field, and was eventually hired as a full-time game designer by TSR in 1995. He authored the Sea Devils Adventure Trilogy, The Illithiad, The Shattered Circle, Bastion of Faith, the Dungeon Builder's Guidebook, and the adventures Die Vecna Die!, Return to the Tomb of Horrors, and Return to White Plume Mountain for the AD&D game, as well as the Tangents sourcebook and The Killing Jar adventure for the Alternity game.

Cordell co-designed the fourth edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide,

After working for a few years as a designer on the fifth edition of D&D, Cordell left Wizards in July 2013. In August of the same year he joined Monte Cook at Cook's company Monte Cook Games, LLC (also called MCG) as Senior Designer. Not long after, MCG Kickstarted another RPG, The Strange. The Strange, co-written by Cordell and Cook, was published in August 2014.

Novels Myth of the Maker (a novel based in The Strange setting), April 2017 Spinner of Lies (Forgotten Realms novel, #2 in the Sword of the Gods series), June 2012 Sword of the Gods (Forgotten Realms novel, #1 in the Sword of the Gods series/Abyssal Plague tie-in novel), April 2011 Key of Stars (Forgotten Realms novel, #3 in the Abolethic Sovereignty series), September 2010 City of Torment (Forgotten Realms novel, #2 in the Abolethic Sovereignty series), September 2009 Plague of Spells (Forgotten Realms novel, #1 in the Abolethic Sovereignty series), December 2008 Stardeep (Forgotten Realms Novel, #3 in The Dungeons series), November 2007 Darkvision (Forgotten Realms novel, #3 in The Wizards series), 2006 Lady of Poison (Forgotten Realms novel, #1 in The Priests series), 2005 Oath of Nerull (as T. H. Lain), 2004

Short stories Wandering Stones, in the Forgotten Realms anthology Realms of the Dead, Forgotten Realms Anthology, January 2010 Black Arrow, in the Forgotten Realms anthology Realms of War, March 2008 Not all that Tempts, Dragon's Return, Malhavoc Press, 2005 Hollows of the Heart, Children of the Rune, Malhavoc Press, 2004

Role-playing games

Adventures

2nd Edition AD&D The Gates of Firestorm Peak (1996) Evil Tide (1997) Night of the Shark (1997) Sea of Blood (1997) Return to the Tomb of Horrors (1998) A Darkness Gathering (1998) Masters of Eternal Night (1998) Dawn of the Overmind (1998) The Shattered Circle (1998) Return to White Plume Mountain (1999) Die Vecna Die! (with Steve Miller, 2000) Reverse Dungeon (with John D. Rateliff, 2000)

3rd Edition D&D The Sunless Citadel (2000) Heart of Nightfang Spire (2001) Bastion of Broken Souls (2002) Grasp of the Emerald Claw (2005) The Sinister Spire (2007)

4th Edition D&D Keep on the Shadowfell (2008) Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress (2009) Death's Reach (2009) Kingdom of the Ghouls (2009)

5th Edition D&D (OGL) Where the Machines Wait for Numenera (2021)

Cypher System The Strange The Strange (2014) The Strange: The Dark Spiral (2014) The Strange: Eschatology Code (2014) Encyclopedia of Impossible Things (2016)

Other settings Gods of the Fall (2016)

Sourcebooks

2nd Edition AD&D College of Wizardry (1998) Dungeon Builder's Guidebook (1998) Bastion of Faith (1999) The Illithiad (1998)

3rd Edition D&D Enemies and Allies (2001) Psionics Handbook (2001) Epic Level Handbook Tome and Blood (2001) Underdark (2003) Expanded Psionics Handbook (2004) Complete Psionics (2006)

Third-Party D20 system sourcebooks If Thoughts Could Kill (Malhavoc Press, 2002) Hyperconscious (Malhavoc Press, 2004)

4th Edition D&D

Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide (2008) Draconomicon I: Chromatic Dragons (2008) Open Grave: Secrets of the Undead (2009)

5th Edition D&D

Player's Handbook (2014) Dungeon Master's Guide (2014) Monster Manual (2014)

Cypher System The Strange (2014) The Strange Players Guide (2014) Numenera: The Ninth World Bestiary (2014) The Strange Bestiary (2014) Jade Colossus: Ruins of the Prior Worlds (2017) Numenera 2: Discovery & Destiny (2018)

Podcasts RPG Countdown: Cordell appeared on these episodes: January 28, 2009 (Open Grave: Secrets of the Undead), March 25, 2009 (Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress).